Loyalty and sales can be significantly enhanced by offering customers improved delivery options, according to Collect+, which is benefiting from the rise in popularity of click and collect-type services. By Glynn Davis

Loyalty and sales can be significantly enhanced by offering customers improved delivery options, according to Collect+, which is benefiting from the rise in popularity of click and collect-type services. By Glynn Davis

Speaking at the recent Ecommerce Expo in London Mark Lewis, chief executive of Collect+, that utilises convenience stores as collection points for products bought online, told delegates that delivery and loyalty were “fundamentally linked”, with two-thirds of shoppers saying they would buy more from a retailer if they liked the delivery options.

“One of the biggest drivers of loyalty is delivery – for the 150 retailers that we work with,” says Lewis, adding that conversely a poor delivery experience will “destroy the trust of retailers” and it is the same when customers are returning unsuitable products.

He cites the example of Very the online-only fashion retailer, which adopted Collect+ for its provision of a click and collect service, and it is now the preferred option on 20% of Very orders

The results for Very have included a 16% increase in customer satisfaction with its delivery service, and nine out of 10 customers saying they would recommend the service to a friend. And probably most importantly Lewis says: “Customers who use Collect+ [delivery option at Very] are 17% more likely to repeat trade with Very than non-users of the service.”

Helping fuel the adoption of Collect+ is the “rocket launch rise of click and collect”, with IMRG research showing that whereas 3% of online orders in 2011 were collected by the customer (rather than delivered to the home), this has risen to 11-12% of online orders and is on an upward trend.

Recent adopters of Collect+ are not just pure plays such as Asos and Amazon but also the likes of House of Fraser who Lewis says are looking for a “denser network” of locations to where customers’ orders can be delivered.

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